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Monday, October 8, 2012

Rico A Mona

<Backdated post> I read from the Perfect Wedding forum that there was someone who wanted to let go of her Cang Ai AD package at a really good price (inclusive of AD photography). So we decided to go down to the Tanjong Pagar stretch to look at the gown selection that Cang Ai has before deciding whether to buy the package. But unbelievably, Cang Ai was not open on a Sunday! Hello, close on the day when most customers are free? Strange, cos they were opened when we walked around that stretch a few Sundays ago. So nvm, we decided to walk into the other bridal shops to look at their gown selection since we were already there.

Before going to Tanjong Pagar, I have emailed 20+ bridal studios to enquire about their AD package. We have also listened to a few sales speech by Julia, My Dream Wedding and La Belle. So we roughly know how much AD packages should be, and what is in it. This is very important so that you will know what to bargain for when you want to decide on one! I have also read reviews on bridal studios on the forums so that we can avoid those which have a bad reputation.

We first went into Sophia. Actually it was our first time walking into a bridal studio. Previously, we were only looking at the studios' gown selection from their iPads at roadshows. So it was very exciting for me! Anw, Sophia's gowns are separated into overseas and local sections (which has different pricing of course). Their local collection is boring, overseas collection is better. After listening to their package, it really didn't attract us at all. It is the most expensive among all those which we have listened to. They let me try one of their wedding gowns and I couldn't fit in. Can't zip and can't breathe! Omg, low morale, my first wedding gown and I can't fit in. So, we left without allowing ourselves to waste more time there.

Then, we walked into Rico A Mona. This is a 3 year old studio and they are sister companies with Di Gio (actually we went in after persuasion from the uncle outside). I looked at their wedding gowns and saw a few that looked ok. My style - I like simple design as I thought that a clean cut elegant design suits me more. Without any hesitation, the coordinator Jesline, offered to let me try her wedding gowns. I was quite surprised as I thought that they will usually tell us about the package before showing us the gowns. So I accepted the offer readily as I believe that I am able to fit in most wedding gowns hahah. I told her that I like simple gowns and she gave me an A line gown. After which, she said that I shouldn't waste my height and figure (hahaha) and let me try a mermaid gown. I also tried a ballgown and in total, I tried 5 gowns.

And guess what? I found one that I really loooooooove to bits!~ It is a ballgown with elaborate bling bling at the top portion. It is translucent with only the 2 padding covering the vital parts. The rest of the front portion are covered with bling blings and it gives people the 若影若现 feel. As it is a ballgown, I had to wear a can can underneath which gives the gown volume. The bottom is very fluffy and voluminous with lace sewn on it. It is a totally dreamy, fairytalely, princessy wedding gown which gave darling the sparkling WOW reaction the instant I walked out of the changing room. Hahaa, I actually didn't want to try on that gown but Jesline insisted that I listen to her recommendations. Luckily I listened to her, cos now I know that actually, I look better in elaborate gowns. Simple gowns are too boring on me. 原来 both of us like 重口味 one. But sad, I wasn't able to take photos of it as we hadn't sign the package yet. We came to know that Jesline is actually the designer of Rico A Mona, and that dress was just designed by her!

So we listened to the package price. She first quoted $26XX, excluding gst. But this was higher than the rest that we have heard, so of course, I had to exercise my negotiation skills already. After a loooong and tough battle, we managed to shave the price to something that we can accept, including gst. I have also asked her to throw in quite a lot of things into my package. The package price was actually secondary as I love the gown selection at Rico A Mona. Besides that unforgettable wedding gown, I have also looked at their cheongsams, evening gowns, tea dress and ROM dress and I can really imagine that I will have a tough time deciding during the AD gown selection. Oh btw, I did not decide to take THAT wedding gown cos what if there are better ones next year! What my package consists of:

All are off the rack. I don't need a made to measure la, I believe I have lots to choose from the racks. I'm so excited! I can't wait to wear those gowns!! Have to look for shoes to go with the gowns. One thing to note is that I may not be able to wear some of the gowns if my heels are too high. I tried on one of the wedding gowns with an 4 inch heels and in the end, my legs were longer than the gown..... Have you ever seen that happening? Hahahha. Some of Rico's gowns with the styles that I now like. Pictures taken from their website :):)

13 comments:

Hi, may I know how much did you manage to bargain till? We were there ysd and we wanted the same things as you: 2 Weddings Gowns, 1 evening gown and 1 tea dress/ Kua, plus makeup, flowers and men's suit. They also threw in mothers' evening gowns for us. Appreciate if you could PM me at audreyliujy@gmail.com :)